The Busy Bee- "How to cherish and make the most of your time"

Summer time can be a great time, that is, if you have something to do. This summer has been great for me, mainly because I am discovering so many new things about life. Usually when the summer comes many people have this time off, and what they realize is that with nothing going on, unlike spring and fall seasons, you can become extremely bored. There is an expression that I like to remember that keeps me going, it is simple: An Idle Mind is the Devil's playground. Okay so lets say your not that religious and you really don't understand this quote, well its simple to understand; basically it means when you have nothing to do and you are completely bored the devil has a tricky way of playing with your mind. Boredom gets you thinking how lonely and depressed you feel, you stay inside and just shoot a blank, or you just sleep all day. Well this is a problem, some may like to do this...but I don't know who those people are and I don't know why they would like such a tremendously boring environment. Keep in mind, if you require a resting period...that is okay for the summer.

So basically I have come with the anecdote, boredom can take up time, waste precious time, and basically you end up missing out on all the great things life has to offer. Now there are some people who believe that if they are going somewhere or working, they are fine because there time is occupied, but what do those people do when the clock has slowed pace, or it is nearly impossible to meet up with friends? I'd like to think they do what I would do...find a way to keep busy. Now, it is important to not confuse busyness with having fun and not being bored, although being busy with something you like to is totally cool and very exciting.

The problem many people face is that they don't really know what they like to do and can't really define what they do when there friends or significant others are no longer with them...or perhaps how to get started on something. Well that's where I come in, the first order of business is to:

1. Define yourself by yourself. A commonly made mistake is defining ourselves by others, what this does is puts our happiness in another person. So God forbid that this person doesn't want to hang with you, or is busy doing some of the things they like to do...you might be out of luck. However, when you define you happiness by yourself whether someone is with you or not-you are okay. This works for me, anywhere I go I can be content because I know what I like and I know what makes me happy. So if you can understand yourself and how to make yourself smile before anyone else...guess what?...You'll be fine!
2. Discover what "Me Time" really means. Me time can be anything...for a guy it may be working out at the local gym, it may be enrolling in a course at school, what ever it may be, make it about you. For a girl, well this could be anything from treating yourself to a massage, or relaxing at home in a hot bath...whatever the case make sure you enjoy yourself and your time.
3. Look for new and exciting things to add to your "Bucket List." Everyone has something they either want to see or want to do. This is the perfect time, whether it be skydiving or going to the museum to learn something...make it about you, and after you discover that new thing you like to do, add it to your "Bucket List" and make it something that you can always tell other people you actually got to do.

Overall, the goal here is to just enjoy your days off, or your summer off. Whether your meeting and greeting friends, or by yourself exploring new reads...or even perhaps going to your first baseball game, remember time is ticking and its time to start doing instead of complaining about how boring and depressing your life is at the moment. Finally, remember that your situation can be changed very quickly and you hold the power in your hands to do just that! Have fun, live life, love life, and remember to keep learning.

A Child of God

I remember growing up and life seemed to be so easy. My childhood was good, despite some family challenges we faced, it was always a good time with my mom, brothers, and sisters. At the time I was growing up certain things I never questioned, its almost as if life was so fun and nothing seemed to be a problem. I didn't have time to think about the real problems that I faced. Life was innocent, not a care in the world, no responsibilities, nothing. Boy were these the good ole' days! When we come into this world it is not by choice, we don't ask to choose or parents, or our brothers, sisters, or cousins; but what most people don't realize is that its not our choice but it was God's spectacular blessing that he bestowed upon us. As we get older life becomes a choice. It becomes a choice to live righteously, to love fully, to make decisions properly, and to really understand why life is our choice of being able to choose to live. In life we don't always make the right choices; there were many times in my life when I choose to not act, to not do, to make my life my own reality. However, as I begin to fully understand and grasp my life as it is, I am starting to realize its more than money, more than expensive cars, more than being popular, more than clubbing every night on the weekends.

There's more to capture through life, there's so much to see, to much to do, and so much to live for. Everyone can have their own understanding of what living really means, but I believe that God puts everyone on this earth for one main reason, and that reason is to learn to LOVE. When I think about my spiritual father, I realize that he creates up perfectly in his own image, he constructs every part of us, from his delicate construction of the heart to the intricate lines that underlie our hands on our palms. But his purpose is to show us in a short period of time, why we are here, why it is our responsibility to take hold of this life and truly find meaning of it all. I realize that life is not promised to anyone, we are not meant to be here forever, during sometime or another we will have to leave this beautiful earth, it is just a matter or when we will leave and how we will live.

You surely don't want to get caught up on these two aspects, but what you do want to do is make when, now and make how irrelevant and live life with your heart on your shoulder. There will be adversity, times when you will fall hard, times when you will hurt, times when you will just want to break down and cry, but all of these great emotions hold magnificent power; think about the type of creature we would be if we only thought to feed our insatiable appetite, if we only thought to get, get, get. We would simply be scavengers, animals, but the greatest difference between us and scavengers is our ability to reach out and touch, to hold, to kiss, to cry when it hurts, to be that shoulder someone needs to lean on, to give when in need, and most important to love when someone is feeling unloved. These human attributes that God gave us make us a beautiful kind of creature.
 
We have the great ability to create, to think, to touch, and to really understand the purpose of life in all its beauty. Remember, that he made us perfect, made us exquisite, made us extraordinary...and most important he made us his children; remember YOU ARE A CHILD OF GOD.

The Power of a Good Movie

First and foremost, hello to all my fans. I have been so busy with school and working on my various projects, that my passion to write these blogs has been a bit delayed. But I come with some exciting new advice after the events that took place last night. To begin, well last night was a semi-great night overall, it started like this, my lovely mom and sisters decided we wanted to watch a movie. Knowing us, you know how hard it is to agree on a movie...but finally we found one that was...well, something we could all agree on. Ironically, the movie was called, "My Sister's Keeper."  The title itself basically gives you a hint of what the movie was about, but what I didn't know was the kind of effect this movie was going to have on me after it was over. Often times we watch movies and have no clue or understanding as to what made us choose the movie or what intrigued us about the movie. But after seeing this movie I was moved in every single way imaginable.

Just to give you a synopsis of the movie: It's about a young girl who is battling a severe type of cancer, so her parents decide to have a child constructed to aide her, by donating her organs to her sister, however there is one problem, as the sister who donates her organs gets older (age 11) she doesn't want to be her "Sister's Keeper" anymore. The movie had so many unexpected twists and turns, however I think what the most powerful lesson I learned was the beauty of the family. A family with a number of unparalleled problems, and a mom who is struggling to handle the situation the best way she knows how, yet the most important aspect of the movie had to be the love of the siblings to one another. I couldn't help to cry the whole movie, I was literally in tears throughout the whole movie...it was just that good. I cannot give the whole movie away, but I will most definitely say it was a movie well worth watching....one of the best movies I have seen all year and that is very hard to say...because some of the movies that come out now I don't even spend my time or my money...but this movie really took the cake. I can only describe it as life changing, life realizing, and absolutely beautifully written and portrayed.

After last night, I woke up with swollen eyes and all, I used my cucumbers to pacify the swelling...but I must say what an impact that movie had on me. I guess you never really understand the power of a good movie until you see one. So I encourage you go out today or tonight and rent this movie, for the most heartfelt, touching movie you ever want to see.